


Green and Violet

by HeadLadyInquisitor



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alcohol, Confessions, F/M, Jealousy, Romance, Sex Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-07-25
Packaged: 2018-07-26 14:27:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7577590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeadLadyInquisitor/pseuds/HeadLadyInquisitor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cullen gets jealous, and he and Ariya talk things out like adults.</p>
<p>(Rating and tags will update with the second chapter, if you know what I mean.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Green and Violet

Cullen was jealous.

The Inquisitor was at the bar knocking back drinks with the Iron Bull and Cullen sat tucked away in a corner, work forgotten on the table in front of him, third ale in his hand, and finally admitted to himself that he was jealous.

He _shouldn’t_ be, but when had that ever stopped anyone?

He had long since resolved to keep any sort of… _inappropriate_ feelings for Ariya Lavellan to himself, not desiring to create unnecessary complications within the Inquisition or in her life, but he still enjoyed her attention more than he was willing to admit. Their almost playful flirtations were bright spots in otherwise trying days, even as he told himself over and over again that they were _just that_ and nothing more.

Now, he was wondering if there was a reason those flirtations had never progressed any further. All the smiles and jokes and _touches_ passing between Ariya and Bull… perhaps that was where her interests lie.

He found himself ill-equipped to deal with the possibility.

He usually only had one ale to wind down at the end of the day, but tonight he found himself signalling for a fourth - until a hand reached out to stop him. “Drinking alone, Curly?”

Cullen hadn’t even seen Varric come in, but there he stood next to the booth, thinly veiled pity all over his face. He groaned inwardly and pretended to busy himself with one of the reports in front of him. “Just getting some work done, Varric. Did you need something?” he replied with a valiant attempt at nonchalance.

“Hmph,” the dwarf huffed and slid into the bench opposite Cullen. “You’ve been staring at the bar for the last twenty minutes. Either you’re taking stock of Cabot’s wines, or something - maybe someone - else over there’s got your attention.”

Cullen rolled his eyes and continued feigning interest in his work. He refused to take the bait.

Varric chuckled took a sip of his drink. “So, the elf or the qunari?”

Slamming his palms down on the table, Cullen stood abruptly and began to gather his papers. “I can see I won’t be getting anything more done here tonight,” he ground out. “Good night, Varric.”

The dwarf shook his head and sighed as the Commander made his hasty retreat. “Poor bastard,” he murmured, glancing back over at the bar. The Inquisitor was an incredibly perceptive woman, but perhaps she could use a hint on this one.

 

* * *

 

Cullen shook his head and reread the requisition in front of him for a third time. Why in the name of Andraste was Rylen asking for three dozen extra sweet rolls for Griffon Wing Keep? Baked goods wouldn’t survive that kind of trip, not to mention the frivolity of the request.

His brow furrowed as he tried to puzzle out _what_ the Knight-Captain was thinking (a new code someone forgot to tell him about, maybe?), but moments into his fourth reading, three short raps on his office door snapped him out of his bewilderment and he straightened in his chair, thankful for any distraction from the past few hours of slogging through paperwork. “Enter,” he called out.

The door creaked open and Ariya stepped halfway inside, quickly turning his relief to anxiety. She, meanwhile, seemed uncharacteristically hesitant. “Cullen. Do you have a moment?”

The slight tremor in her voice gave him pause, but he placed his quill on the desk and nodded. "Of course, Inquisitor."

She flinched at the use of her title, sending a pang of guilt through him, but ever since his… disconcerting bout of jealousy, her presence unnerved him - more than usual. Maintaining some kind of professional distance was the best defense mechanism he could think of. She cleared her throat and took another step into the office, trying to straighten her posture. "I- I wanted to ask you if you've been avoiding me. We've barely spoken since I returned from the Emprise a week ago, and, well, it seems like I’ve done something to upset you."

He looked down and scratched the back of his neck. "Upset me? Of course not. Everything is fine, Inqui-... Ariya, I've just had quite a bit of work to do."

"You're a terrible liar, Cullen."

His head shot back up. He should've been used to her blunt nature by now, but her words still took him by surprise. "I'm-... what?"

She sighed and walked to stand in front of the desk, leaning forward on both hands. "Just tell me the truth," she said. Then, softer, "Please."

He swallowed thickly and nodded. "Forgive me... I did not wish for personal matters to interfere with our duties. It’s… I shouldn’t. It’s nothing you need to worry about.”

“I’m _choosing_ to worry about it,” she pressed. “Please, talk to me.”

He averted his gaze again, trying not to let the words come recklessly tumbling out. “It’s foolish,” he nearly whispered.

“We’re all foolish sometimes,” she replied, a rarely heard softness to her tone.

He was cornered, and he accepted the fact that she wasn’t going to let up or buy any flimsy excuses. _Best to be out with it, then._ Silence hung in the air as Cullen selected his words. “...I was jealous.” She had to strain to hear him.

Ariya blinked. “Jealous? Of… who? Or what?”

He flushed deeply. “Of Iron Bull. You and I have had some… friendly flirtations, if you will. I don’t pretend to have any claim over your attentions, but I… reacted in a way I did not expect.”

Her brow furrowed. “Reacted to…” Cullen could see the gears turning as she went back over the last few days in her mind. “When he got me drunk on that Qunari poison?”

“I…” he faltered. “I may have misread the situation, I thought that perhaps--”

“You thought that he and I were together,” she filled in.

He started, still not quite used to how easily she seemed to read people. He reached out to shuffle some papers on his desk, determined to keep his hands busy so they wouldn’t betray his anxiety. “If I’ve crossed a line, I promise it won’t happen again. I have no wish to make you uncomfortable or disrespect your authority, and I--”

“ _Cullen_.”

He froze. “...Yes?”

“No lines crossed.”

“...No?” He hesitantly met her eyes.

“No,” she insisted.

He merely stared, getting the distinct sense that Ariya knew exactly where this conversation was headed while he remained completely in the dark.

She offered him a soft smile as she circled the desk and perched herself on the corner. She stayed far enough to give him space, but close enough to make him feel vulnerable - thrown by the loss of that wide, solid barrier between them.

“I considered it, I suppose,” she began, pulling the end of her silver braid over her shoulder to fidget with. “Bull has been a great friend to me. There are certain… similarities to the lives we’ve led. Things that other people find difficult to understand.”

He raised an eyebrow, but she shook her head and glanced away. “Another time,” she said. “He asked, once, if I wanted to. Have sex, I mean. It’s… we both have more casual approaches to it, I suppose.”

Cullen couldn’t help himself. “But you… didn’t?”

“No,” she nearly whispered, then met his eyes again. “No, we didn’t. Which is strange, because I can’t think of a reason why not. It would have been fun. Uncomplicated. It’s been a long time since- Never mind.”

He held himself back from prying. She wouldn’t share anything she wasn’t ready to, and he already felt like he was getting away with something, having her open up to him this much. Instead, he merely nodded for her to continue.

She bit her lip (in a way that he found much more enticing than he should have) and tugged lightly on her braid. “Something stopped me. Someone.” She hesitated. “You.”

“Me?” That his voice didn’t break was a miracle, as far as he was concerned.

Ariya nodded, almost imperceptibly. “I just… _You_ kept popping into my head, and sleeping with someone else, even just for fun, when all I could think of was you felt… wrong.”

He swallowed hard, his heartbeat thumping in his ears. He knew he should say something, but,  _Maker_ , how was he to respond to that?

“Cullen,” she breathed, placing a hand over where his lay on the desk. “I care for you - and I’m reasonably sure that’s mutual?” Her lips curled in a half-smile, just a hint of a tease behind her words.

“ _Yes,_ ” he whispered, turning his hand over to curl his fingers around hers.

She squeezed back, then continued, “But there are things that you don’t know, and you need to before this goes even a step further.”

He nodded slowly, carefully. “I’m listening.”

She slid off the desk, releasing his hand and turning her back to him. "When I first arrived in Haven, Leliana told me that you said you thought you recognized me from somewhere, but you couldn't remember where."

"Yes," he said warily. Ariya rarely spoke to people without looking directly at them - what could be making her so uneasy?

Looking for a distraction, she walked over to the bookshelf, tapping along the spines as she spoke. "I remember where."

When she didn't continue, he pressed, "Well... where?"

She released a heavy sigh, steeling herself for what she had to say, and for how he might react. "Kirkwall," she nearly whispered. "The Blooming Rose."

A heavy silence fell over them as Cullen tried to piece together faint memories with Ariya's words. She merely continued with her charade of examining the collection of books, fully prepared for the conversation to end very quickly. When he next spoke, she certainly wasn't expecting to hear, in his hushed voice, " _Violet..._ "

She let out a short laugh, unsure whether she should feel relieved or apprehensive. "You couldn't remember where you'd seen me, but you can remember _that_."

"I-I'm sorry," he said quickly, taking a step towards her. "It's just, I try not to think about Kirkwall very much, but now that you've said it, I don't know how I _could_ have forgotten."

She shrugged in an attempt to remain nonchalant. "It isn't as if we ever..." she trailed off, feeling that there was no appropriate phrasing in this situation.

"No, but I-"  _wanted you._ "I noticed you."

She hazarded a glance at him, the pause not lost on her, but now was not the moment to pursue his unspoken admission. Instead, she barreled forward, emboldened by what seemed to be his tentative acceptance. "I worked there for six years, until just a short while before the Conclave. I was not banished from my clan for running off with a _shem_ and converting to the Chantry - that was just a cover story. My primary occupation was as a spy for a smuggling ring in Kirkwall. In return for my skills, my clan was kept well-supplied. No, I was not forced to work at the Rose, but that was where the best money and the best information were. I was not exploited or harmed - it was a job, like any other."

She paused here, considering her next words carefully. "I was rarely given customers who would not likely yield useful information - the brothel received a bonus whenever I passed along something valuable. Most of the time that just meant excluding people who didn't know anything. Sometimes people who were too honorable to give anything up."

Some distant part of Cullen’s mind recalled that Violet never seemed to be “available” when he had made his occasional visits to the Blooming Rose.  _Oh_.

After allowing the information to sink in for a few moments, she turned around to face him. "Anyway, now you know."

He stood slowly, still turning things over in his mind. "May I ask one question?"

"Of course."

"What does any of that have to do with us?"

"I-" she stammered, a bit flustered. "It doesn't bother you?"

"Should it?” He took a few steps, closing the distance between them until they were inches apart - _surely_ she could hear his heart pounding. “I visited the Blooming Rose. How is you working there any different?"

She swallowed hard and, again, avoided eye contact. "You would hardly be the first man to hire a whore with one breath and condemn her for being one with the next."

" _Ariya_." Cullen's hand rushed up to cup her cheek and turned her to look at him. " _No_. That is not me. And _you_... You are remarkable. Beautiful. Brilliant. _Amazing_. The fact that you're standing here, trusting me with this. The fact that you didn't reject me the moment this conversation began... I'm not entirely convinced that I'm not _dreaming_ right now."

She merely gazed at him, dumbfounded, heart in her throat, pulse racing through her veins. She tried to speak, but her mouth was dry. Her normally collected, confident nature had fled, leaving her speechless, frozen in place.

"Ariya," he said again, softer this time, tasting the syllables as they rolled over his tongue - she shivered. "Let me kiss you."

**Author's Note:**

> Wanna know more about Ariya? Wanna read the stuff I'm too lazy to post on AO3? My tumblr is head-bitch-inquisitor.


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